A very Mankin Christmas
by Miss-Mina-Chan
Summary: It's Christmas time at the onsen.There will be shopping,singing carols,parties,and a little romance at the same time.[ryuXoc][finished!]
1. Chapter 1:Deck the halls and the onsen!

A very Mankin Christmas

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King. If that was my Christmas present then I would be super happy. Especially if I had Ryu-san !! But I do own Minako, Cassandra and Mickey and their sprirts.They're my fan characters. Also I don't own any of the Christmas songs either!!

Me (the authoress): Yeah, Yeah.I know. I should be working Fan-Girl problems, but I had this idea popped in my head because I am in a Christmas mood and I just wanted to do this story. I also thought that I haven't written a holiday story yet, so here it!!

Chapter 1: Deck the onsen and the tree!!Fa La La La!!

December 10th

It was December 10th and it was all quiet at the onsen. Except the loud screaming that was heard from inside, but aside from that it was quiet.

"Yoh!! Help me with these lights!" yelled Anna.

"Coming Anna!!" cried Yoh.

They were stringing lights on the stairs and so far it hasn't gone as well. The lights were all tangled up and so was Anna. The others were having a much better time. Manta and Chocolove were hanging the stockings up and of course Chocolove was making jokes as they went.Jun and Bailong, who were spending the Christmas at the onsen with Ren, were busy taking down the rest of the decorations from the attic. Pillika and Tammy were sipping hot chocolate after cooking up dinner and Faust and Eliza were stringing up popcorn chains and were ready for the tree. The tree was the only thing left to set-up.

"What's taking them so long"? wonder Pillika "They left two hours ago."

The 'tree getters' were Ryu.Minako, Mickey, Cassandra, Horo-Horo, Ren, and Lyserg.

"I hope they get here soon," Tammy said.

"They better!!" yelled the still tangle Anna. Now Yoh, Manta and Chocolove were trying to get her out.

Meanwhile…

"How's this one Ryu-san?" asked our familiar cutie shamanic-witch.

"It's fine Mina-Chan. But this one's got more branches," said Ryu.

Minako looked at the tree Ryu pointed to. It certainly did have a lot more branches than the one she picked out. It was even bigger.

"Cassandra what do you think?" asked Minako

Cassandra was sipping hot milk with Ren.Her cat ears perked up when she head her name being called.

"Hm? Oh it's super!!" exclaimed Cassandra. "What do you think Mickey?"

Mickey was also sitting by Ren and Cassandra but she was next to Horo-Horo.Her dog ears perked up.

"Arf? Oh that's great let's buy it!!" exclaimed Mickey.

"Ok then. The girls have decided that they want this tree. What do you guys think?" asked Ryu.

The boys looked up at him

"It's great," said Lyserg.

"I like it," said Horo-Horo.

"Whatever. I don't care that much," said Ren.

"Then it's settle. We're getting this tree," Ryu said.

After paying for it and walking down the street a little, Minako teleported the tree and themselves back to the onsen.

"We're back!!" cried Minako.She open the door wide enough so the boys could get the tree in.

"What took so damn long!?" screamed a very annoyed Anna.

"Sorry Anna. We were on our way to the tree lot when Horo-Horo got hungry and then we realized that we were all hungry so we went to eat and then got this beautiful tree. See?" Minako said sweetly.

The boys had managed to get the tree through and were now settling it into the tree holder. It looked very grand and was maybe the most beautiful tree in the world.

"Ok now!! Let's decorate that tree!!"Cried Mickey.

"Yeah!!" cried everyone else.

"Wait!!" cried Tammy.

Everyone just looked at her funny.

"We have dinner," she said.

"Okay then. Dinner then we decorate that tree!!"Cried Mickey once more.

"Okay!!" cried everyone else.

45 minutes later…

"Thank you. I'm full!!" cried everyone.

"You're welcome. Now let's decorate that tree," said Tammy.

"Yea!!" said everyone.

It certainly was easy getting that tree decorated with everyone helping.Minako used her magic to put those annoying hooks on all the ornaments that the onsen had (You know what I'm talking about. Those metal hooks that hook into the ornaments and they are so annoying because as soon as you open the package of them they're all tangle up and it takes to long to put up!!).Minako also used it to wrap the lights around the tree and the popcorn garland that Faust and Eliza had made eailer. Mickey had to make sure Horo-Horo wasn't eating any of the popcorn. It wasn't easy.

"Horo-Horo!! Quit eating that popcorn! We just had dinner," said Mickey.

"But I'm still hungry!!" whined Horo-Horo.

"At least have one my cookies that I baked this morning," Cassandra urged.

"Yea, they're delicious!!" agreed everyone.

"Fine," said Horo-Horo.He grabbed a gingerbread man and starting chewing. Then he grabbed another and another in till he had at least 10 in his hands.

"They are delicious!!" exclaimed Horo-Horo.Everyone just gapped at him.

"Looks like I'll be baking more," said Cassandra calmly.

The rest of the tree decorating went smoothly, except that Chocolove hid in a box and scared the crap out of Minako and Ryu when they opened it, and then Ryu hit him on the head really hard. Also Manta, Horo-Horo, and Yoh thought it would be funny to dress up Ren and Bailong in left over Christmas decorations.Jun was actually thrilled to see her favorite guys in Christmas décor.

"I'm gonna kill all of you!!"screamed a vengeful Ren.He then started chasing everyone with his pointed hair. Then Cassandra came in from the kitchen with a new batch of cookies freshly made and saw him.

"Oh Ren-kun!! You look so cute!!" exclaimed Cassandra. "I like it!"

Just as he was about poke Yoh in the side, He stopped and blushed crimson.

"We're saved and Cassandra made cookies!!YAY!!" screamed Yoh, Manta, and Horo-Horo.

Just then Lyserg turned on the stereo and popped in a Christmas CD.It started playing 'White Christmas' and Ryu got an idea.

"Would you liked to dance Mina-chan?" he asked sweetly.Minako was surprised by this.

"Um, yea.Yes that would be nice,"Minako replied sweetly and blushing a little.

They started dancing and Faust caught on and asked Eliza to dance. Both couples were dancing beautifully while the others watch. When the song ended, Eliza and Minako curtsied gracefully and Ryu and Faust bowed. They had standing motivations from the onlookers. Finally the tree was done and glitter beautifully in the light.

"Yea!!We're done!!," cried Minako, Cassandra, and Mickey.

"It's beautiful," said Faust while standing next to Eliza and holding Manta.

"What time is it?" said Pillika.Manta looked at the clocked.

"WHAT!? its 10:30!!" cried Manta.

"What?!" cried Minako, Cassandra, and Mickey.

"We missed the train," said Minako.

"We can't go home," said Cassandra.

"And I can't teleport back home because I used most of magic. I'm almost Mini-Minako now," said Minako.She they got an idea.

"Anna-chan," said Cassandra, Minako, and Mickey.

"Oh no," said Anna.

"Could we please stay here for the night? Actually could we stay here the whole month? asked the trio sweetly.

"The whole month?" gasped everyone.

"WHY? Don't you have to go to school? Don't you already have a house?" asked Anna.

"No, we're out of school already. We get out earlier than the other schools in the area," said Cassandra.

"Yea, we have a house. It's not that we got evicted or didn't pay our rent it's just well..," Mickey started and stopped thinking of what to think up next.

"We're going to be coming here everyday since everyone else is here and since it takes a while to get here by the train, and the weather getting bad and we can't fly our broomsticks and it takes a lot of my magic to teleport," added Minako.

"So can we please stay, Anna-chan? PPLLEEAASSSEE?" asked the trio. They did the puppy dog face to seal the deal. It made all the boys blush except Bailong and Faust.

"They have great reasons, Anna," said Yoh.

"But we don't have enough room," said Anna.Yoh thought about that a while.

"I know we can draw straws!!" exclaimed Yoh.

"Huh?" said everyone.

"You see, there's not enough room in the onsen, so we draw straws to see who has to share a room with these three," he said calmly.

"Sounds fair,"said Anna.

"Okay now. We'll divide these straws to everyone except these three girls. There will be three straws that will repersent them. They will be color straws.

PinkMinako

YellowCassandra

BlueMickey

Remember ,you can't change straws or once you get them a color one you're stuck with her for the rest of the month.Ok now let's begin," said Yoh.He grabbed all the straws and mixed them up and gave them to Minako to hold since he had to draw a straw too. All of them grabbed one and started to look at them to see if they had to share a room with the trio.Pillika had got Cassandra, Tammy had Mickey, and Ryu had Minako.As soon Minako saw that Ryu had the straw that represent a room at the onsen,she turned a crimson. red.Ryu also blushed a little.

"Well that's a perdictment.Anyway, Good night everyone," said Yoh.

"Um maybe I could teleport with Cassandra and Mickey!" exclaimed Minako still red.They all grabbed their coats and went out to see I that Minako could teleport even with her low power.She grabbed Cassandra and Mickey's hand,and said "Teleport us back to our home!!" Minako exclaimed. With those words, they were gone in a flash, but then the Mankin gang heard a super loud splash come form the hot springs. They all ran to see what it was, was shocked to see that the trio didn't make it that far.Minako had just changed into Mini-Minako and there were very crossed Cassandra and Mickey sitting in the onsen with Minako.

45 minutes later….

After the trios clothes were dry, Anna had given them the onsen official yukata to sleep in till Minako could teleport their clothes to the onsen.Everyone was sleeping but Minako was still up because she couldn't sleep.

'I can't believe I'm sleeping next to Ryu-san,' she thought to herself. She finally agreed to sleep in the same room as Ryu and of course she had her own futon and blanket. She sighed. But it was sort of nice to sleep next to her true love.

"Can't sleep?"

Ryu was looking at her to see if he could make her go to sleep.

"Oh, I'm fine. It's just takes me awhile to get used to sleeping in a new place,"Minako said.

"Well, don't worry. If you do go to sleep and have a nightmare, I'll comfort you," he said smiling.Minako blushed harder.

"Well, goodnight Mina-Chan," he said sweetly like always and kissed her on her forehead.

"Goodnight, Ryu-san,"said Minako and fell in a deep sleep and as snow started to fall on the sleepy city of Funbari Hill.

Continue in Chapter 2.

Me: Please R&R.Thxs!!Oh! And to learn more about Cassnadra, Mickey, and Minako in 'Fan-girls problems!' also by me.See-ya in the next chapter!!.


	2. Chapter 2:Snowball fights and shopping

A very Mankin Christmas

Chapter 2: Snowball fights and shopping.

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King. If that was my Christmas present then I would be super happy. Especially if I had Ryu-san !! But I do own Minako, Cassandra and Mickey and their sprirts.They're my fan characters. Also I don't own any of the Christmas songs either!!

December 13

Minako woke up as soon as the sun peeked through the curtains of the room, she was up. For the past three days, Minako, Cassandra and Mickey were sleeping at the onsen.They planned to stay in till January 3rd .But Minako was even earlier than usually because of a certain snow-boarding shaman.

"YAHHOO!!IT SNOW A TON LAST NIGHT!!!" yelled Horo-Horo at the top of his lungs. The rest of the boarders at the onsen groggily step out of their rooms to see what the hell the noise was about. Horo-Horo was smiling like an idiot as the sleepy-eye shamans looked at him.

"What the hell is your problem? It's 5:30 in the morning!!" said Ren.He was about to get his Kwan-doe out but Cassandra and Jun grabbed him before he sturcked down Horo-Horo.

Still stupidly grinning, he said, "I'll show you." He led the group to the foyer of the house.

"Prepare to be amazed at what nature can bring," he said. "Ta da!!" He opened the door and everyone gasped. It did snow, about 2 feet!!!It almost flooded it into the foyer.

"Well, pretty sweet huh?" Horo-Horo asked.

"Horo-Horo, you baka!!" screamed Anna and used her famous Inn hostess punch mega attack. Horo-Horo went flying and landed in the living room.

"Anna-chan do you think that Horo-Horo deserved that?" asked Mickey.

"Yes he did. He could have waited at least 9:00," Anna said calmly. "I'm going back to bed." And climbed up the stairs and slammed her door.

"Ow," moaned Horo-Horo.

"Oh Horo-Horo-kun!!" exclaimed Mickey. She ran over to him and helped him up.

"I didn't think you deserved that so next time just wait in till the sun's up for at least a hour before you wake us all up.'k?" said Mickey.

"Onii-chan is always like this when it snows at least a foot. I think its instincts or something. But I'm tired still," yawned Pillika. Horo-Horo had a really big red punch mark that Koro-Koro was applying ice to.

"Well, I'm up now. They sun's about to come out so I can't go back to sleep.Damn, I hate my sleep patterns. Up as soon as the sun goes up. I hate it," said Minako.

"Might as well make breakfast. Today's my day to do it anyway," said Cassandra. "What do guys want for breakfast?" she said.

"I want strawberry pancakes with whip cream and maple syrup!!" cried Minako.

"I want an omettle!!" cried Mickey.

"Could I please have some French toast?" asked Faust. Eliza nodded in agreement for French toast too.

"I want everything!!" cried Horo-Horo. Ren hit him on the head.Koro-Koro and Mickey fleded over to him and helped him.

"Oh boy, ask a simple question, get a million answers," sighed Cassandra. "I'll make pancakes and toast, but I think we're outta of eggs and strawberries. Luckiley, we have milk left!!" exclaimed Cassandra.

"Ok that's fine," said Mickey.

"What no strawberries?! I'll put that on the market list," said Minako.

"Toast is fine if we have marmalade", said Faust.

"Yea milk!" exclaimed Ren.

"Milk, Milk...elk!!" cried Chocolove and was dressed up as an elk. Ren poke him in the nose with his Kwan doe. Chocolove shrieked in pain.

"Quiet!! Do you wanna wake up Anna," whispered Yoh.That would be like death thought the others.

"Well, I'll be in the snow if ya guys need me. Call me when breakfast is ready," said Horo-Horo casually.

"What?! Wait up Horo-Kun!!" cried Mickey. " I need to change."

"Don't shorten my name!!" said Horo-Horo while blushing.

"Ha ha.Yeah, Mickey, Horo-kun gets all embassed when you say things to him," joked Ren.

"SHUT UP REN!!!" screamed Horo-Horo and started fighting with Ren.The fight went out of control as Chocolove, Lyserg, Yoh and Manta were dragged into it by accident.

"WHAT WITH ALL THE DAMN NOISE?! QUIET DOWN THERE OR I'LL MAKE IT QUIET!!" screamed a very angry Anna. It was dead as the graveyard then.

"That's better!!" huffed Anna and slammed her door once more.

"I'll think I'll go change now and play in the snow," said Mickey.

"Ditto," said Manta.Choclove, Lyserg and Yoh all nodded in agreement.

20 minutes later….

It was a beautiful calm scene. The snow was pure white and all was quiet and peaceful.

"EAT SNOW BAKA!!" yelled Ren.

Well it was peaceful. It all started when the Ren, Chocolove, Lyserg, Horo-Horo, Manta, Yoh, Mickey, Minako, Tammy, and Pillika went out to play in the snow. The girls were making snow angels and snowman, while the boys were making snow forts and snowballs.Chocolove thought it was a good idea to throw a warning snowball at where the girls were playing. Bad idea because the snowball hit the snowmen that Minako was working so hard on (it looked like Ryu and Minako sitting next to each other.) and ruined them.Well, Minako got pissed off and made some snowballs really fast with her magic and threw them like fast balls at Chocolove.But some of them missed and hit Ren and Horo-Horo, then they got pissed, hit Mickey and Pillika, and then it started a whole snowball war.

The snowball that Ren throw hit Pillika right in the face, which made Horo-Horo mad, which made Mickey mad all three of them began to fight while still throwing snowballs. Still the first the first snowball war was going on. Suddenly Ryu came from inside.

"Guys! Breakfast is ready!! Come and get it!!" said Ryu.Right then and now the snowball war was over.Ryu helped them take off all their coats and jackets and a peace treaty was signed stating that Chocolove would never throw a warning snowball throw near Minako or by her snowmen because that would start another snowball war. Breakfast was served and hot chocolate was also served. Anna finally woke up at the smell of the delicious breakfast that Cassandra made. At around 12 noon, the whole onsen decided to go shopping for Christmas gifts, but with a twist.

"We're going to go shopping by ourselves and no boys are coming because 1.) You guys always complain and it takes longer and 2.) You guys are always tired after an hour of shopping," said Anna. All girls we're ready to go with all their coats and purses full of money.

"Besides, we don't want seeing what we get. It'll be a surprise," said Minako.

"We'll tell you when we come home,'k?" added Mickey.

"See you guys in a few hours," said Jun.

"Bye Bye!!" exclaimed the girls and Minako teleported them to the shopping district. The boys just stared blankly at the door.

"So. What do you wanna do now?" asked Yoh. Chocolove, Lyserg, Ren, Horo-Horo, and Manta started smiling.

"SNOWBALL WAR!!!" cried the boys and with that they we outside plummeting snowballs at each other.

"Better make a list of what to buy for Christmas," said Ryu.He sighed. What was he going to get Minako? He needed to get her a special present. Then it hit him. He knew what to get Minako and went off to find his secret stash of cash to see if he had enough.

Meanwhile….

The girls were getting most of their shopping down and since it wasn't late minute it wasn't that crowded. Mickey and Pillika both paid for a new snowboard gear for Horo-Horo, Anna bought Yoh some new BobLove CDS and an orange pullover,Jun bought nun chucks for Bailong and Cassandra bought a new Kwan doe with Ren's name engraved in it, and Tammy bought Manta and Lyserg $50.00 gift cards from Wokshrio(A/N:Weird store name that I made up,huh?) bookstore and also Chocolove three new joke books, Eliza bought Faust some new suits and new lab coats for him, and Minako had the most stuff.

"Minako,who are all those for?" asked Jun.She had about 10 presents wrapped up tight and in pretty wrapping paper,too.

"Well,umm…one's for Cassandra, another for Mickey, two for my grandparents, one for Anna-Chan, for letting us stay at the onsen,so for Jun-chan for being such a kind person, one for Tammy for cooking, and the rest for Ryu because he deserves them and I have to buy more for his birthday also," replied Minako.

"His birthday's on the 24th right?" asked Pillika.

"That's right. Most people think you get ripped off because your birthday's before Christmas and you don't get that many presents. But I think they're wrong .I don't think it matters as long as you have your love ones by your side for your b-day," said Minako. "Oh I better get two more gifts for Ryu-san!!" and scurried off to buy them.

Meanwhile, back at the onsen….

Ryu had found his stash of cash as he removed the loose board of his room. He counted it a smiled that he had enough for Minako's present.

"She's going to be so happy when she sees it," he said to himself.

Just then the front door slammed really loud and he wonder if the girls were back. He put the cash in his wallet and put the wallet in his coat and but the board back. Then walked down stairs to see if they were back.Appernetly not because all he saw from the stairwell was six soaked shamans getting water on the floor and complaining of what to get for Christmas.

"I gotta get Anna the perfect gift or she'll kill me," whined Yoh.

"Well, what the hell do know?! I need to know what kind of present you should get for a cat-girl. Do you give her cat presents or regular presents?" asked a puzzle Ren.

"Well, we're in the same boat my friend. What the hell do you give a dog-girl?" puzzled Horo-Horo.

"Simple. You get them both of both worlds and see if they like it," said Chocolove coolly.

"That's the first time I heard Chocolove had a good idea and not turn it in a pun," said Lyserg.

"And now the Joke…." Said Chocolove but was cut off by Ren poking him in the nose yet again (Me: How many times has he got poked in the nose in this one chapter?!).

"Maybe it would have been a good joke Ren," said Yoh.

"Yeah, right," said Manta.

"Hey would guys mind mopping up after yourself, please?" said Ryu who was sitting on the stairs sighing. They just looked up at him. "You guys wanna know what I'm getting Minako?" asked Ryu.

"Sure. Shoot," said Chocolove.

"Well, I'm getting Minako a…" Ryu started to say but was cut off they sound of the door opening and Minako bursting in.

"Ryu-san!!" said Minako as she bounded in and hugged Ryu on the stairs. "I'm hungry, I have some miso soup, please?"She said cheerfully. Just then Jun and the other girls came in.

"We want miso soup, too!!" cried the rest of the girls.Ryu sighed.

"Okay, miso soup coming up girls. Boys help them with the presents while I get the soup ready. And Minako…" said Ryu.

"Yes Ryu-san?" said Minako.

"Could you let go of me please let go of me?" asked Ryu. Minako was till clinging to Ryu's neck even though he was standing up.

"WHA-!! Sorry Ryu-san!!" said Minako and she let go of his neck. He breathed a sigh of relief.

30 minutes later…

The girls had finished their soup and the boys were already shopping for Christmas gifts.

"So... what do you think Ryu's getting you, Minako?" asked Jun.The rest of the girls already gave their lists to the boys before they went shopping so they knew what to get them.All except Minako.

'Get whatever you think I would like. As long as you pick it out, I'll love it,' said Minako.

"I don't know. But I don't care. If it's from Ryu-san then I'm gonna love it!!" said Minako said smiling.

"I still can't believe you didn't ask for anything!! Ryu would have bought anything for you if you only asked," added Pillika.She guy her brother a long list of the cool toys she saw at the toy store.

"I have faith in my Ryu-san.He get me something special. I feel in my heart," said Minako.

Meanwhile, back at the shopping district…..

The boys were doing a pretty good job of getting Christmas presents and good thing that they were all strong because they were all heavy gifts.

"Damn sisters," swear Horo-Horo and Ren.Both sisters had asked for a lot of things on their list and of course they had gotten Cassandra and Mickey's gifts too.

"Hey Ryu.I just thought of something. You were about to tell us what you going to get Minako but then she came in. Did you get it yet?' asked Manta while holding some Yoh's packages.

"Heh.Yeah,I got it. Feast your eyes on Mina-Chan's present!!" exclaimed Ryu.He took out a small box out of his coat pocket and opened it up and laid a small diamond ring. "I plan to give this to her on Christmas Eve as her present. I hope she likes it, even though it's small," he said. It had taken most of the money he saved to buy that. 'I hope she likes it,' thought Ryu.

"Did you think this through Ryu? Are you sure you wan to get married? You're still young!!" said Yoh.

"Well you're already engaged so what of you talking about?" replied Ryu.

"Guess you're right. Well at least the girl you love doesn't make you train!!" laughed Yoh.

The group was finally done shopping and was on the late train back to the onsen.

"We're back," said Yoh.

"Did you get everything on our lists?!" cried the girls.

"Yes we did now stop bugging us!!" cried Horo-Horo.

"Hey.Where's Mina-chan?" asked Ryu.

"She went to bed already. She turned into Mini-Minako about an hour ago and went to bed. She was trying to get a jar of tea off that tall shelve in the kitchen and thought she could just teleport it to the table and then turned into Mini-Minako because she's been teleporting all day and such," explained Cassandra.

"That's good I guess because I don't want Minako to see the present I got her," said Ryu.

"What did you get her?" asked Mickey.

"Is it nice?" asked Pillika.

"I'll show you," replied Ryu and show them the ring he got.

"Wow, how romantic," said Jun.

"It's super pretty," said Tammy.

"Hey! I don't have a ring! Yoh get me a ring tomorrow for Christmas!" said Anna while clutching Yoh's shirt.Yoh could only nod.

"Please don't tell Mina-Chan. I want it to be a surprise.That go for you too Kitsune!!" exclaimed Ryu.He had just notice that Kitsune, Minako's sprit was looking at him from down the stairs.

"Hey! Ya calling me a snitch! How dare you! I have never told a secret in my life.Besides, Lady Minako said to wait for you and make sure that you came home safely and I won't tell her," said Kitsune.

"Thank-you. Good-night everybody," said Ryu.He walked in to his room and making sure not to wake up Minako dressed silently and unrolled his futon. Before he shut his eyes, he kissed Minako goodnight and fell asleep as the snow was glistening in the midnight sky by the stars

Continue in Chapter 3…

Me: Long chapter huh? Oh and so you don't get confuse: Minako is a very powerful witch and can only use some of her power and when she uses a lot she turns into Mini-Minako.Mini-Minako looks like the older Minako but is small like Milly from the Lilly 5.She can turn back into her normal self when she doesn't fight, use magic or gets lots of sleep and eats a lot of food. Hope this helps anyone who was confuse.Please R&R.Thaxs!


	3. Chapter 3:Ashil's birthday party and car...

A very Mankin Christmas

Me: Today is December 22 and it's my good friend Ashil (as he is known on the SKU forums)'s birthday. So I'm going to put him in the story for this chapter.Ashil-san, would you like to do the disclaimer?

Ashil: That would be nice. Mina-chan does not own shaman king but she owns her fan characters. Oh ad she does not own the Christmas carols in this story either and the Christmas carol "Twelve days of Mankin".That's mine. But we both wish he had our favorite characters

Me:Ryu-san…

Ashil: Ashil…

Me&Ashil: Sigh...

Chapter 3: Ashil's party and caroling

December 22

Minako had waked up sluggish. She had just recovered from a bad cold just yesterday and had not got back her energy. 'This was all that snow's fault. If the boys didn't soak me on Friday I wouldn't have been sick on Saturnday.At least Ryu kicked their butts.' She smirked. She remembered how that big pile of snow had come to soak her…

Flashback...

December 17

She and Ryu went to get food from the market that day and after Ryu had parked his bike, they gather the food and started walking to the door.

"What are you going to make for dinner tonight?" asked Minako.

"How about soba noodles with crab and squid?" asked Ryu.

"Sounds yummy!" exclaimed Minako.But unknown to them they were being watch by Chocolove and Horo-Horo in the tree by the door. As soon as one of them stops, they would give them a big ol' pile of snow. They got their chance when Minako stop to tie her shoe and Ryu went inside.

"EAT SNOW MINAKO!!!" cried Chocolove and Horo-Horo.A huge pile of snow fallen out of that tree and Minako couldn't more in time t escape. She gave a huge scream as it fell on her.

"Yes! We got her!" cried Chocolove and Horo-Horo.

"You also get this!" yelled Ryu as he punched and hit Chocolove and Horo-Horo insanly.After the beating he dugged out Minako out of the snow. She was soaked all over form head to toe. He carried her in to the living room to the fireplace to warm up. But even that didn't stop her from being sick. The next day she was sick in bed with a fever of 101.5.

"Ryu-san? If I die can I be your spirit partner?" asked Minako wearily. She was in her futon with a bag of ice and a sick mask on to not get Ryu sick. He was sitting next to her pealing apples and slicing them for her to eat.

"Mina-Chan, don't say that. You're not gonna die. Faust is coming up soon as he's done with Chocolove and Horo-Horo.Don't worry," reassure Ryu.

"But I'm scared I'm gonna get a shot. I hate needles," she said shuddering.

"I don't know if you are or not. But I'll be right here," said Ryu.Just then Faust enter the room with Eliza and their medicine bag.

"Good day, Minako.How do you feel?" asked Faust smiling.

"I feel like I'm gonna die. I feel like I lost all of my enegy.My head hurts and I have a fever of 101.5.And I'm not that hungry." said Minako.Eliza was writing everything Minako had said. Faust looked at his wife's notepad and then said something to her.Then he talked to Ryu and Ryu nodded.Minako was afraid to hear what as about come up. 'You need a shot,' Faust would say and it would hurt like hell. She was afraid.

"Minako, it looks like you just have a normal cold. Just gets some rest and take these pills with a full stomach and a glass of water. You should be better in four day. Good day," said Faust. He gave Ryu the pills and walked out of the room with Eliza.

"See that wasn't so bad was it, Minako?" asked Ryu but Minako had fallen into a deep sleep.

End of Flashback.

Of course Ryu was already up and downstairs cooking breakfast for today. She walked down stairs and saw the caladener. She froze it was the 22nd.Ashil's birthday is today. After she saw that she ran to the dinning room Cassandra and Mickey were there. She found them sitting at the table eating.

"CASSANDRA!!!" yelled Minako as she basically tackled Cassandra.

"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?!" asked Cassandra viciously.

"Cassie!!Today's Ashil's birthday! Did you make the cake?" asked Minako anxiously.

"Yeah we did yesterday and we have all the gifts that we bought for him," said Cassandra calmly.

"And we told him to come here for his gifts and then we'll go out.Remeber?" added Mickey.

"Not really," laughed Minako nervously. Mickey and Cassandra looked at each other.

"That cold must have messed up your head," said Mickey.

"Yeah, you're acting nutty," added Cassandra.

"So. Who is Ashil?" asked Horo-Horo.There was a hint of jelously in his voice.

"Ashil is our good friend from school. He's also a fan-boy," explained Mickey.

"He very smart, too,"added Cassandra.  
"And good at DDR.He's better then we are at it. He likes Butterfly the best," added Minako.This made Anna jerk her head up.

"Good at Butterfly? We'll see about that," said Anna.

"Do you changle him," asked Minako.

"Yes I do," said Anna.

"Fine.Channgle set when he comes here at noon," said Minako. Minako looked at the clock. It was about 9:35.

"Can I have some breakfast, please," she asked Ryu.

"Strawberry pancakes with whipped cream and maple sysurp, coming right up!" said Ryu.

"Yea!!" cried Minako.

After breakfast, the trio decides to get dressed and get the house ready for the Ashil's vist.Anna got the PS2 ready and DDR ready to play. The doorbell ranged at exactly at noon.

"Coming!!" yelled Cassandra, Minako, Mickey.They ran to the door and greeted the visitor.

"Happy Birthday, Ashil-san!!" cried the girls. The other guests looked to see who this 'Ashil' really was. He was really tall, had short spiky brown hair, and had glasses and was skinny. He also wore a collar for some reason. The girls greeted him by hugging him which made Ren, and Horo-Horo cringed with angered.

"Thanks girls.Oh! I brought some sparkling grape juice!" he said smiling.

"You're Ashil? Come with me," said Anna. She dragged him to the living room where the PS2 was.

"They told me that you're good at DDR.Prove it," she said.

"Anna-Chan! At least wait 5 minutes!!" cried Mickey.

"No way!!" said Anna.Ashil just smirked.

"Channgle me? Fat chance!" said Ashil.

"Bring it on!!" said Anna. The rest of the guests just watch as Anna and Ashil danced away.

"Channelergoes picks the first song, and then the winner chooses the next song and the next. Whoever has the best score is the DDR champ in this house," said Anna.

"Fine with me," said Ashil.He chooses Butterfly to play first.

I've been searching for a man

All across Japan

Just to find, to find my samurai

Someone who is strong

But still a little shy

Yes I need, I need my samurai

Of course, both of them knew the words to the song and started singing it. After that was done the game tallied up their scores. They both got As.

"Next song!!" exclaimed Anna and Ashil.

Anna choose 'Shooting star'

Like a shooting star

Across the midnight sky

Wherever you are

You're gonna see me fly

Like a shooting star

Across the midnight sky

Wherever you are

You're gonna see me fly!

"Come on Ashil-san! You got an AA on it!" cried Mickey.

"Yeah! You kicked my butt on this song!" added Cassandra.

Finally the song was over. Overall score for that was a B for Anna and AA for Ashil.

"Well, Anna-chan? Do you give up or do you wanna play one more song?" asked Ashil coolly.

"Fat chance!" screamed Anna.

"Hmpf.Fine.My turn," replied Ashil.

He choose 'Hot Limit'

YO SAY. Summer love...

Wishing revealing...

YO SAY. Summer love...

Wishing revealing...

Precious love is always eating up my heart

The song was too fast for Anna. She kept on missing the footing and wasn't doing well. The final score was obvious. Anna had a D while Ashil had A.

"The winner!! Ashil!!!" chimed Manta.

"Can we please eat some food?" said Horo-Horo boisterous.

"Horo-Horo, don't be rude! It's Ashil's birthday. But I already have it prepare so we can eat when Ashil wants to," replied Cassandra.

"That's sounds great.Oh and we can have the juice that I bought with?" asked Ashil.

"Of course! That stuff is the best!!"Cried Minako, Cassandra, and Mickey at the same time.

"It's the best in the world! You have to try it Ryu-san!" said Minako.

"Tammy can you help me with the food?" asked Cassandra. Tammy nodded in agreement. In ten minutes, a lavish mini feast was severed.

"It looks great," drooled Horo-Horo.

"let's open the cherry juice first,'k?" asked Minako.

"Yea!" squealed Cassnadra, Mickey, and and Ashil. Minako popped the cork off the bottle and poured it into everyone's glasses.

"A toast to Ashil-san! May he have a long life and a happy birthday today!!" chirped Minako.

"Here, Here!!" shouted everyone. Everyone toke a sip of their juice and suddenly a tingle run through eveyerone.

"This isn't the real stuff is it?It's the kiddie stuff,right?" asked Pillika.

"Of course this is the kiddie stuff!!The real stuff is nasty!!" exclaimed Mickey.

"It's tastey," said Lyserg.He started to get red in the face like it really was the real stuff.  
"What the hell is this stuff? Can I see the bottle?" asked Ren.Cassandra gave him the bottle.Ren looked carefully at the label.  
Kurshio's all natural cherry juice  
The finest in Kyoto  
WARNING: May cause extreme relaxation when drinking large qualities of it.  
"Why does it say 'may cause extreme relaxation' when you drink a lot of this stuff?" asked Ren.  
"Because it has a medicine root that helps people relax in the recipe for the juice," explained Ashil.  
"Well that explains why Anna isn't complaining that she lost to you," joked Yoh."Does anyone want cake yet or do you want to wait in till Ashil's opens his presents?" asked Cassandra. Most people were almost done with their food except for a few scarps.  
"I'll think in till after the presents. I so full!" cried Mickey.  
"Yeah, let's open Ashil's presents first then eat the cake," said Minako.  
"Fair enough. For Once in my lifetime, I can't possibly eat even a crumb, I'm so full," said Horo-Horo.  
"WHAT?! YOU ARE?!" exclaimed Manta.  
"THAT'S SUPER WERID!!" cried Lyserg.  
"That's impossible," added Chocolove.  
"WOULD YOU GUYS SHUT-UP!!" yelled Horo-Horo.Mickey tried to calm Horo-Horo down and so did Ashil. After 10 minutes of Horo-Horo cooling off, they went into the sitting room where the tree was and Minako, Mickey and Cassandra went to get their presents for Ashil.  
"Here's mine, Ashil-san," said Minako.She handed him a green package with red ribbon on it.Ashil opened it gingerly and was happy to find his present.  
"The complete DDR game series!!Thank-you!!"Exclaimed Ashil. Minako could only smile her sweet smile at him.  
"My gift now Ashil-san!!"Cried Mickey. She handed him a big package with Christmas tree wrapping on it. He opened his second present the same way he did to Minako's present. He was a little more excited when he saw his second present.  
"An Ashil plushie and an Ashil cosplay set! Thanks, Mickey-chan!!" said Ashil while hugging his plushie.  
"You're very welcome. Just don't take my plushie!!" she said while squeezing Horo-Horo.  
"I am not a plushie Mickey!!" cried Horo-Horo while blushing violently.  
"Ha Ha Ha!!" snorted Ren.  
"I wouldn't talk Ren-kun 'cuz your mine!!" Cassandra said while squeezing the blushing Ren.  
"Excuse me, but don't you have to give your present to Ashil-san still, Cassandra?"Asked Minako.  
"Opps.Yea, sorry 'bout that. Here ya are, Ashil-san,"said Cassandra handing over her present. It was small but carefully wrapped. He opened it up like he did all the others.  
"What's this?" asked Ashil.He hold up a small pendant that looked like those Hao-legos that Hao has on all his teammates.  
"I made it myself. You were complaining that Ashil was the only one who didn't have one, so I made it. Goes well with the cosplay set, doesn't it?" asked Cassandra.Ashil's eyes were filling up with tears.  
"Thank-you Cassie-Chan! Thank-you girls!!" cried Ashil as he gave them hugs.  
"Shall we have cake, now?"Asked Cassandra.  
"That would be very nice. It's chocolate, right?"Asked Ashil  
"Just the way you like it. It's in the kitchen. I want everyone to see it," said Cassandra. She led them to the kitchen and to a plate with a cover on it.  
"This is it! One of my cooking masterpieces, if I do say myself.Ta da!!" said Cassandra as she lifted up the lid.The others gasped. Cassandra was puzzled why they gasped and looked down at the. Sitting on the plate was Conchi and Ponchi were finishing it up.  
"Busted…" cried Conchi and Ponchi.Cassandra looked like she was about to kill them.  
"OF COUSRE YOU GUYS ARE!!How dare you eat the cake I made for Ashil-san birthday! I wanted it to be perfect for his b-day and then you pigs eat it while you're not gonna get away with it!!"Screamed Cassandra as she started to beat the crap outta them...  
"Sick 'em Spunky!!" shouted Cassandra as she called her fairy spirit on them.Spunky beat them in one punch. After those two were down for them count, she turned to Minako.  
"Minako, I thought those charm slips were supposed to keep everyone except me from touching the cake," Cassandra said.  
"I borrowed those from Jun," explained Minako. "I ran out."  
"Sorry Cassandra. They only work for people not sprirts. I'm sorry,"aplozgie Jun.  
"It's okay, I guess," said Cassandra. Tammy got an idea.  
"Since my sprits ruined your cake, maybe I could help," said Tammy.  
"I'll help san!!"Cried Jun and Minako.  
"Thanks," said Cassandra.  
1 hour and 35 minutes later….  
As the girls brought out the cake, all lightened with candles, everyone started to sing 'Happy Birthday' to the birthday boy. As Jun laid the cake on the table and Ashil blew out the candles.  
"What'cha wish for?" asked Mickey.  
"You know you can't tell otherwise it won't come true," responded Ashil.  
"I forgot," said Mickey.Horo-horo patted her head.  
"It's okay I forget too," said Horo-Horo.  
After all the cake was gone it was already 9:00.  
"Where does the time go?" asked Cassandra.  
"Better be going.Oh and before I forget," said Ashil as he looked through his bag that he bought. He toke out four packages. "Here you go Minako, Cassandra, Mickey and Ryu.Your Christmas presents girls and your birthday present Ryu. Minako told me that your birthday was on the 24th.I'll be going now," said Ashil.  
"Wait! We'll walk you home. We were gonna go caroling anyway," said Pillika.In 20 minutes ,all the guest in the inn were out walking with Ashil to his apartment and singing Christmas carols.  
Jingle bells!  
Jingle bells!!  
Jingle bells!  
Jingle all the way!  
All what fun it is in a one horse open sleigh!

They also sang one that Ashil-san made up  
Anna&Yoh: on the 1st day of Christmas my shaman gave to me, a necklace made of bear claws!

Jun&Bailong: on the 2nd day of Christmas my shaman gave to me, two wooden swords!

Ren&Cassndra: on the 3rd day of Christmas my shaman gave to me, 3 different outfits.

Pillika&Tammy: on the 4th day of Christmas my shaman gave to me, 4 weights for training.

All: on the 5th day of Christmas, my shaman gave to me,  
Fffiiivveeee Kyoooounshhhiiiii

Ryu&Minako: on the 6th day of Christmas my shaman gave to me,  
6 happy places

Horo-Horo&Mickey: on the 7th day of Christmas my shaman gave to me, 7 hills for boarding (snow boarding)

Faust&Eliza: on the 8th day of Christmas my shaman gave to me, 8 yummy burgers (hehe sorry)

Manta&Chocolve: on the 9th day of Christmas my shaman gave to me, 9 jokes by jocko

Ashil: on the 10th day of Christmas my shaman gave to me, 10 spirit balls

Lyserg: on the 11th day of Christmas my shaman gave to me, 11 hugs from Billy

All: on the 12th day of Christmas my shaman gave to me, 12 cast members singing

After all that singing, they all made it to Ashil's apartment which was really nice.  
"Hope the rest of your birthday is nice," said Anna.  
"It was really fun having you here today. Please come for Christmas and get more of that juice!"said Ryu. Ashil smiled and went into his apartment.  
"Well, that was fun. Let's sing another!!" shouted Chocolove.  
"Hmpf.Fine!" said Ren.  
They started singing Rudolf the red nose reindeer and as soon as they got back to the onsen, they cleaned up and went to bed.


	4. Chapter 4:Happy Birthday Ryu and Merry C...

A very Mankin Christmas

Chapter 4:Happy Birthday Ryu and Merry Chritsmas too!

Me:I don't own SK,Christmas or anything else that sounds like I should own.But as always I own Minako,Mickey,and Cassandra and their spirits,too.

Chapter 4

December 24

Minako silently woke up before Ryu.She wanted to do something for the first of his birthday presents.  
'He's going to love me after this and his birthday,' thought Minako.It was just a minute before Ryu usually got up to make breakfast or do anything else that Annatold him to do. Slowly she made her move.  
"RYU-San!!"Cried Minako as she jumped on top of his futon with him in it. Ryu gave a little 'Oof!' as Minako jumped on top of the futon.  
"Mina-Chan, what are you doing jumping on top of me?" Ryu asked calmly. Minako didn't say anything. She just kissed him.  
"Just trying to do something different for your birthday. What do you want for breakfast, Ryu-san? I'll make whatever you want," said Minako smiling. Ryu didn't know what to say. He just stared at her blankly and blushing.  
"Take your time," said Minako.He sighed.  
"I'll just have some eggs and toast with marmalade," said Ryu.  
"Okay! How do you want your eggs?" asked Minako.  
"Scrambled," replied Ryu.  
"Coming right up!!" exclaimed Minako.She got off the futon and ran down to the kitchen. Ryu just stared out into space for a minute. 'It's already my birthday? Man when does the time go? Better get up and see how Mina-chan doing,' he thought to himself. Quickly he folded the futons and went down stairs to see everyone surrounding the door of the kitchen.  
"Eh...What are you guys looking at?" asked Ryu.  
"Minako cooking. I didn't know she could cook," said Lyserg.  
"It's super weird. Is it a sign of the end?" asked Manta.  
"I hope it taste good. Maybe if we're lucky it won't taste like toxic," said Horo-Horo.  
"I CAN HEAR YOU ALL!!" shouted Minako. "Besides this is all for Ryu-san for his birthday, none for you. NYAA!!" said Minako as she stuck her tongue out. They all just sweat-dropped.  
"Well what are we suppose to eat then?!" asked a very annoyed Horo-Horo.  
"That's my job today. I'm supposed to cook today because Minako asked me to," said Cassandra.  
"Me too," said Mickey.  
"Well at least it's better than Minako's cooking," said Horo-Horo under his breath. Just then a frying pan hit his head.  
"I HEARD THAT!!"Shouted a very angry Minako.Then she cooled off and smiled. "Ryu-san, breakfast's ready."  
Everyone gathered around Ryu to see if he would die of bad cooking or lived. Minako just prayed that Ryu loved her cooking and it was as good as his.  
"10 to 1 that he gets food poisning,"whispered Chocolove to Horo-Horo.  
"You're on!" whispered back Horo-Horo.Minako just glared at them evilly.  
Finally, Ryu took a bite of his eggs and toast and everyone held their breath.  
"It's great Mina-Chan! Really it is," said Ryu smiling. Minako blushed.  
"I super glad that you love it! I was afraid that I didn't follow the recipe right. Do you want more?" asked Minako.  
"Yes please!" said Ryu.  
"Looks like you both lose," said Minako to Chocolove and Horo-Horo.  
After Ryu had finished his second helping and Cassandra and Mickey served breakfast to the others, Anna gave her orders out.  
"Ryu, you need to clean the onsen, the kitchen, and get the chicken for tonight for Christmas," said Anna.Ryu was about to grab the list in till Minako snatched it from Anna.  
"I'll do them Anna-Chan. Consider this birthday gift #2,Ryu-san.Just relax today," said Minako. "Could I get the chicken tonight while Ryu-san and I are out for his birthday dinner? I want to take him out to dinner tonight," said Minako.  
"Fine. All I want is these chores done and yes you can bring the chicken home after your date," said Anna.  
"Thank you Anna-chan!!" exclaimed Minako.She grabbed all the cleaning supplies and started cleaning the onsen.  
"This is the end. Minako's cleaning," remarked Ren.Suddenly a wet rag hit Ren's face.  
"WOULD YOU PEOPLE QUIT MAKING SUCH A BIG DEAL OUTTA ME DOING STUFF I NEVER DO!? GEEZ!!" shouted Minako from the onsen.  
"I think it's nice of Minako to do things she doesn't do normally," said Yoh.  
"I think she's only doing it for Ryu's birthday. Tommorow she'll be back to normal," said Cassandra said sighing.  
After cleaning the whole house (using some of her magic helped too.), Minako took a little nap on the counch. She also had a note on the couch that she put on herself. It said:

Do not wake me up in till 4:00 pm.  
I'm very tired and I want to be refreshed for Ryu-san's dinner.  
Thank-you!  
Love, Minako

Everyone that either walked by the living room or into it saw and was shocked by it.  
Ryu on the other hand was in his room thinking. 'So I got the ring for her, so when do I give it to her? Do I give it to her when we're on her date or when we get home? Crap! I don't know how to propose to her!' he thought. 'I'm taking a nap like Minako,' he thought.  
Later…  
Minako felt a cold shiver run through her body. She open her eyes to see Kitsune standing next to her touching her arm to wake her up.  
"Lady Minako.It's 4 o'clock. Time to get ready for your date," said Kitsune nicely.  
"Thanks Kitsune.I'm going to take a bath and get dressed," said Minako. "Where's Ryu?"  
"I believe he's sleeping still. Should I wake him up too?" asked Kitsune.  
"Nah.I think he's has his alarm set. If he doesn't than I'll wake him up when I'm done," said Minako.Then she walked off to the onsen and got ready for a soak.  
Ryu woke up at the sound of the alarm clock and saw that it was early still so decided to take a bath before Minako woke up and get ready. 'Maybe a soak in the onsen will help me think up of something,' thought Ryu.He climbed down the stairs and walked into the onsen.  
Minako had just finished her bath and was about to go up stairs to change into her clothes for her date. She walked out the onsen and was down the hall, while Ryu entered the onsen. 'Oh! I forgot my earrings,' thought Minako.She turned around and walked into the locker bin to retrieve her earrings. Unknown to her, Ryu was already undressing and was only in his boxers (answers the question, no?) then he heard the door opening and Minako bounded in. They both turned cherry red at the sight of each other.  
"WHOA!!!" cried both the beet-red shamans  
"WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING HERE MINA-CHAN!?" shouted Ryu as he put his pants back on.  
"I-I already took a bath and forgot my earrings," stammered Minako.  
"Oh.Here ya go," said Ryu as he gave her earrings.  
"Thanks. Enjoy your bath," said Minako as she took her earrings and started to walk away from Ryu. "We're almost outta of shampoo, so you can use mine," she said and walked out of the onsen and shut the door behind her. Ryu started undressing again and looked for Minako's shampoo and took his bath.  
Minako was still blushing still as she was changing into her clothes for her date. She picked out a cute top and a skirt and put on her tights and put on her make-up. Then she top her outfit with a Santa Claus hat. She stepped out of the room and walked down the stairs and talked to Anna about what's the name under the chicken so they could pick it up later.  
"I don't know what name it's under. Yoh ordered it," replied Anna.  
"Yoh, what name did you put it under?" asked Minako.  
"Umm..I put it under Anna's name," said Yoh.  
"Okay, got it," Minako said.  
"Oh Minako, you look so cute tonight," said Ryu.He had just entered the room and hugged Minako.  
"Thanks Ryu.Oh wow! You look good tonight too!" exclaimed Minako. Ryu dressed up little different tonight. Instead of his usually shirt and pants, he just had a turtleneck t-shirt and jeans on. But he did have hair the usually way, which was fine.  
"Where do you want to eat tonight? You can eat anywhere in the city," said Minako.  
"Anywhere? How about this sushi place I know?" asked Ryu.  
"That's fine. Can we look at the decorations and do a little shopping too? Oh and can we take your bike too?" asked Minako.  
"Yes, yes. We can Minako," said Ryu. "Are we ready to go now?"  
"Yes.Oh no! I forgot something. I'll be right back," cried Minako.She raced to the tree and picked up a present.  
"Here you are Ryu-san.This is one of your presents. This the only one you're getting in till we get home," said Minako. Ryu took the present and opened it slowly. In it was a pair of new leather gloves and a new scarf.  
"I thought it would be nice, for the rest of the month and would be nice for the bike ride tonight," said Minako.  
"They're really nice, Mina-chan.Thanks," Ryu replied.  
"Okay, we can go now," said Minako.The couple grabbed their coats and scarves and walked out the door. Ryu started the bike and they were down the road in a few minutes.  
"He didn't propose to her yet," said Cassandra.  
"Maybe he'll do it on his date," replied Mickey.  
"How romantic!!" exclaimed Jun.  
"Okay. Enough chitchat. Minako said to get this place ready for Ryu's birthday party before they get back. So let's get to work!" shouted Anna.  
"Right!" exclaimed the others.

Meanwhile….  
Ryu parked the bike in front of a small shop. It jerked Minako a little when he parked but she was okay. She looked to see where she was and looked at the restaurant's name. It said 'Akito's Sushi Shop. The Best in Funbri.'  
"Is this it? Because it looks like I've been here before for some reason," said Minako. Ryu took off his helmet.  
"Yep this is it. Of course the restaurant just change it's name because the son took over it after the father went into retirement. It was Hama's Sushi before," explained Ryu.  
"That's why it looks so familiar! I used to go here all the time when I lived here!" exclaimed Minako. "I hope it still the best like it used to be."  
"It's better! The son makes better sushi then the father. Shall we go?" asked Ryu as he held out his hand to lead her in.  
"Yes. Let's eat some sushi!!" exclaimed Minako.  
Back at the onsen…  
Cassandra and Mickey had finished baking Ryu's cake and were decorating it with Tammy and Pillika.Jun made sure that Ponchi and Conchi did not eat this cake.  
"Well what do you know? I found my slips that control not only humans, but also spirts. Lucky you," said Jun while she had Ponchi and Conchi pinned to the wall with her slips.  
"Tammy.Help us," cried the raccoon and fox sprits.  
"Not a chance, you guys. You ruined the cake last time, you're not ruining it this time!!" exclaimed Tammy.  
Ashil had come over with not one, but three bottles of juice and was helping out with the decorations with Horo-Horo and Ren.He had the pendant that Mickey made for his birthday on.  
"The living room looks great guys! Hey I have a funny idea for the party. Wanna hear?" asked Ashil as soon as they were done in the living room. Horo-Horo and Ren leaned in as Ashil whispered his plan in their ears.  
"WHAT?! No way baka! This house is not doing that!" exclaimed Ren beet red.  
"Yeah, I don't know. Do you think the others would go for it?" asked Horo-Horo.  
"They might. Let's ask them," said Ashil as they went to find the other boarders. They found them all sipping tea in the sitting room.  
"Hey guess what Ashil wants to do for Ryu's party?" said Horo-Horo.He told all the boarders about Ashil's plan for Ryu's party.  
"No way," said Anna plain and simple.  
"Come on Anna. It would be fun. Just do it for one night please?" asked Yoh.  
"Fine. I'm in. But I won't like it," said Anna with a huff.  
"I'll do it too! I've never done it before!" said Cassandra.  
"I'll do it too, if Cassandra's doing it," said Ren.  
"This going to be fun!" cried Ashil.  
"Let's get ready now. We're all done anyhow, with the decorations and the cake, so we're done. Come I got clothes," said Jun.  
Back to eating sushi…  
Ryu and Minako had just finished their big sushi dinner and were walking out of the restaurant.  
"That was so yummy!" exclaimed Minako.  
"It was, wasn't it? Do you want to go shopping now or pick up the chicken and go home?" asked Ryu.  
"Let's go look a little and if I see something then I'll buy it. Then we can go home," replied Minako. Ryu started the bike and they drove to the main street where all the shops and decorations were. It was a beautiful clear night and the Christmas lights and other decorations twinkled beautifully. The department store windows were filled with window displays.  
"Look at that cute one, Ryu-san! It's got Santa Claus and his reindeer in it!" said Minako as she scurried over to the window. Ryu followed after her and stood next to her. Besides Santa Claus and his reindeer, the window also had toys that the store carried and other products that were big in the store. Ryu noticed that Minako was staring at fluffy white teddy bear with a pink ribbon around its neck and with silver wings.  
"Would you like that teddy bear? I could get it for you for Christmas with your other gift," said Ryu. Minako blinked and blushed a little.  
"That would be super nice. I think that's all I want for tonight. I didn't see this when we went shopping for gifts or I would have asked for it already. Thank you. Thank you, Ryu-san," said Minako.They entered the store and bought the teddy bear. Then they got the chicken and drove back to the onsen. Ryu parked the car like normal and helped Minako with the chicken. When they enter the foyer it was all dark through out the house.  
"HHHEEELLLLOOO!! Anybody home?" shouted Ryu. "Where is everyone, Mina-chan?"  
"I don't know," said Minako playing dumb. It was all part of her birthday plan for Ryu. "Let's see if they're in the living room."Ryu and Minako walked into the living room and flipped on the lights. Then many people scared the crap outta of him.  
"SUPPRISE!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RYU!!!"Shouted the boarders. They all popped confetti poppers and put them all over Ryu.  
"Yeah! The chicken is here! Let's eat!!" cried Horo-Horo.He was dressed in a blue skirt and had a black tube top on and had his hair down. As Ryu and Minako looked at the others, they realized that most of them had cross-dress for some reason.  
"Um.. Ryu, just to tell you, I didn't plan the cross-dressing. I just told them to make a cake and put up decorations and get juice. I really didn't plan on them cross-dressing," said Minako innocently and blushing.  
"It wasn't our idea, Minako.Ashil had planned it," said Ren blushing. He had on the dress that Chocolove had put on him when they first met him. Yoh had on Anna's long dress on and Anna had his shirt and pants on, Cassandra borrowed some of Ren's stuff and looked a little like him, Mickey and Pillika borrowed some of Horo-Horo's clothes, Lyserg and Manta had some of Mickey's and Cassandra's clothes, Tammy had on some of Chocolove's clothes, Chocolove had his little match girl outfit, and Ashil had one of Jun's dresses on and a little bow in his hair.  
"We're you guys drunk when agreed to this or what?" blurted out Ryu.  
"We weren't drunk! We just thought we do something different for today. Besides this is funny," said Mickey.  
"This weird stuff is making me lose my appetite. Let's eat that chicken and cake and open the presents we got for each other," blurted out Anna.  
"Okay," agreed everyone else as was drying his or her eyes.  
"I have a 2 toasts for tonight. Happy birthday to Ryu and Merry Christmas everyone!!!" shouted Ashil.  
"Here Here!!" replied the boarders. They took their glasses of juice and gulped them down and started on the chicken. Minako and Ryu, who already had dinner, just sipped their juice and just sat next to each other.  
"Okay. Now can I have my other presents, now?" asked Ryu.  
"After everyone finish eating dinner, Ryu-san! I want everyone to see your presents!" Minako said.  
"Okay then," said Ryu. In 30 mintues, everyone was done eating and couldn't eat another bite.  
"Let's open our presents now!" cried Yoh.  
"Yea!!" cried everyone else.  
Everyone charged to the tree and started to grab their presents and started ripping them open one at a time.  
"Wow! Thanks Anna! I love them!" said Yoh as he opened his present to see two new BobLove CDs and a new orange pullover.  
"Thanks for the ring, clothes and toys, too," said Anna.  
"Thanks Cassandra," said Ren as he opened up his new Kwan Doe.  
"No thank you, Ren-kun!" exclaimed Cassandra as she opened her present form Ren.It was a new cooking apron and a new silver cat bell on a pink ribbon.  
"Thank-you Miss Jun for the nun chucks," said Bailong.  
"And thank-you and Ren for the new make-up and dresses!" exclaimed Jun.  
"Cool! Thanks Pillika thanks Mickey!" said Horo-Horo as he saw his new snowboarding gear.  
"Thanks onii-chan for the new toys,"said Pillika.  
"And thanks for the new CD and squeaky toys," said Mickey as she began to chew on one.  
"Thank you Eliza, dear for the new suits and lab coats," said Faust.  
"Thank you dear for the pearls," said Eliza in returned for her new pearl necklace.  
"Wow! Thank you for the gift cards, Tammy!" said Lyserg and Manta in unison.  
"Yeah and thanks for the joke books! I'm gonna try them out right now," said Chocolove.A few seconds later a shriek was heard from across the room.  
"Thanks for the new cookbooks and the cute new purse guys!" said Tammy.  
"Oh Minako! The new Gwen solo CD! I've been looking everywhere for this! And snacks! Thanks for the snacks!" exclaimed Mickey as she started chewing on her dog treats.  
"And thanks for the new cookbook! I couldn't find this anywhere and the cat toys are so cute!" said Cassandra as she flipped through her cookbook.  
"One more thanks from me! I love these new fan comics about Ashil! They're so cute and great!" said Ashil.  
"Thanks for are gifts Ashil-san!" cried Minako, Mickey and Cassandra as they opened their gifts. They each got perfume, purses and jewelry.  
"Okay.Now it's Ryu-San's turn!" said Minako.  
"Yeah!" cried Ryu.Minako gave the rest of the presents that she bought for Ryu and Ashil's present from the last time he visited. He opened Ashil's present first.  
"Thanks Ashil! These are great shirts! They're vintage and they're really cool!" said Ryu as he held two 70's and 80's concert t-shirts.  
"My gifts now Ryu-san!" cried Minako.  
"All right.Calm down,Mina-chan,"replied Ryu.He slowly opened up his second gift from Mimako.It was a scrapbook entitle 'Ryu and Minako:Best Memories'.He flipped through it and saw all the old pictures from the past years of him and Minako that he hadn't seen in a long time.  
"This is really nice Mina-chan.Did you make this?" asked Ryu.  
"Yeah, I did. I bought a scarpbooking kit and added all the photos of us together hope that we can share these forever," said Minako sweetly. "You still have two more presents."He opened the other one a little bit faster and found two new cookbooks for him.  
"These are super rare! I've been searching for this sushi one for two years and this I've been searching for months! How did you know that I wanted these?" asked Ryu.  
"Lucky guesses I guess," said Minako.Finally he opened the last one. It was a big picture of Ryu's group of friends and Minako ere still in high school. The picture was taken the last time Minako was there for his birthday. It was beautifully framed and was ready to go on a wall.  
"Thank-you Mina-Chan! I love everything you gave me! I 'm so glad that you're here this year!" cried Ryu as he hugged her tightly.  
"Glad you like them all, Ryu-san. Can I have my other present? You said that you had another gift for me. Can I have it now?" asked Minako.  
"Wellllll…Yeah I guess you can now. Here it is "said Ryu.He left go of her and took out Minako's ring and got down on one knee  
"Mina-Chan, I knew you for a long time and love you too. Will you marry me and be my happy place?" asked Ryu. Minako didn't know what to say. At first she blushed.  
"Yes. Yes I will!!" shouted Minako. Ryu placed the small diamond ring on her finger. Then Minako started crying tears of joys as she hugged Ryu.  
"How did you know this is what I wanted for Christmas? This is one of the best presents I ever got!!" she said between sobs. The other boarders were so happy for them that Mickey and Cassandra started to cry tears of joys for their friend and sister. Horo-Horo looked at them blankly, then he heard a sniff coming from Ren's direction.  
"Ren are you freakin' crying?!" shouted Horo-Horo.  
"OF COURSE NOT YOU BAKA!!I just have something in my eye," replied Ren.  
"Aww.It's okay Ren-kun!!! We can cry together!" shouted Cassandra as she hugged him.  
"I don't cry people!" shouted Ren.  
"Hey let's have that cake now," said Manta.Everyone agreed to that and dried their eyes.  
Cassandra and Mickey brought out the cake and placed it on the table in front of Ryu.Minako lighted the candles on it and then the boarders sang 'Happy Birthday' to him. Minako snuggled closer to him as the song was almost done. Then Ryu blew out his candles as he made a wish.  
"Well, I'll do the third toast," said Yoh.He raised up his glass of juice. "To the newly engaged couple, Ryu and Minako! May they find happiness and even more love than ever before!" said Yoh with a smile.  
"Yeah!" cried the other boarders with raised glasses.  
"And may we never got sucked into Ashil's plans again!" shouted Horo-Horo.  
"I second that!" said Ren.  
"Ditto!" cried Anna.  
"Us three!" shouted Chocolove, Manta, and Lyserg.  
"It was you naïve kids fault that you got dressed up for this," said Jun.  
"What? You helped us get dressed, Jun-san!" cried Mickey.  
"Yeah!" seconded Cassandra.  
"Only because I like dressing people up for stuff have a great fashion sense," said Jun a little snobbish.  
"Whatever, Sis.Just eat your cake before Boro-Boro does," said Ren.  
"Don't call me Boro-Boro!" said Horo-Horo.He almost started to fight with Ren but Mickey and Cassandra grabbed them both.  
"Don't fight! At least not today!" cried Mickey and Cassandra.  
"Fine!" said Horo-Horo and Ren blushing from Mickey and Cassandra.  
Everyone had two slices and was full of cake.  
"I'm sleepy," said Cassandra.  
"Yawn..What time is it?' asked Mickey.Pillika looked at the clock.  
"Wow..It's super late! It's almost 11:00!  
"Wow.That is late.Maybe that's why Yoh fell alseep on my arm," said Anna pointing to Yoh drooling on her arm.  
"Let's just put the dishes in the sink and do it in the morning," said Tammy.  
"Can I stay for the night since it's so late? I can sleep on the couch," said Ashil.  
"Fine.Just get Yoh off my arm!" said Anna.He was drooling buckets now.  
The other boarders went into their rooms and shut their doors and fell fast asleep.  
"Did you have a good birthday, Ryu-san?" asked Minako as she slipped into bed.  
"Yes it was a very good birthday loved my gifts from you. They were the best hoped that you loved my gifts," said Ryu laying down in the bed.  
"Didn't I tell you? This is one the best gifts I ever I got!I love my teddy bear that you got me," Minako said as she squeezed her teddy bear.  
"Well good night, Minako," Ryu said as he kissed her and pulled her closer to him.  
"Good night, Ryu," said Minako as she hugged him and fell into a deep sleep.  
'We took another step in our relationship,' thought Minako. 'I hope I feel this much love everyday from now on.'The snow fell gracefully on that Christmas Eve night as friends and love ones sleep peacefully within that onsen inn.  
The End


End file.
